Pink Bag Flies Free!

Hi, everyone! How was your weekend? After a crazy week at work, I made it a point to enjoy every minute of the weekend. We had some friends from St. Louis in town and had a blast acting like tourists and locals at the same time. I’ll share some of our budget-friendly adventures in the next post, but first I need to share something really exciting we saw on Saturday night!

I’m in a Southwest Airlines national TV commercial!!! A few weeks ago I was walking through Daley Plaza on my way to the L from work and accidentally walked through the middle of them filming the commercial. There were all sorts of people wearing Southwest Airlines uniforms while dancing and singing about bags flying free. (By the way, those are actual Southwest employees) I thought it was pretty cool, and they didn’t say anything to me, but I forgot about it until Saturday night. While watching the hockey game I saw myself walk across the screen during the commercial! Watch for me at 0:06 with my pink bag and white jacket. I’ll be walking from the right side of the screen to the left while smiling.

And why am I smiling? Because I love Southwest Airlines! (By the way, Southwest didn’t pay me to write this and I had no idea I was going to be on national television.) Their rates are super-low and have no baggage fees, a friendly staff, a great rewards program, free snacks and drinks, an entertaining in-flight magazine, and on and on! I always fly Southwest, unless we’re going somewhere international. When we went to Panama City Beach this past June, we waited until the airport opened and Southwest began flying there.

Southwest Airlines definitely gets the Fiscally Chic seal of approval. You can’t beat their promotions for $49/one-way flights. Why would I want to buy my bags their own plane tickets??? And do the other airlines give you tickets for free alcoholic drinks (for the 21+ crowd) when you get a free flight? I don’t think so.

Seriously, their Rapid Rewards program is awesome! 16 flights (8 round trips) and you get a free flight! I feel like I have to fly around the world 80 times with other airlines to get anything. Plus, you can get additional credits by booking rental cars and hotels through the Southwest website. And using your free flight is also pretty easy.

I even like their way of boarding the plane. So what if I sit at the computer waiting to check in 24 hours in advance to be in the A line? It makes them unique. Sure, you can pay more to guarantee A-list status, a free alcoholic drink, and extra credits, but I’ll save my money to put towards other flights.

Finally, Southwest is actually growing and is profitable in this economy! They just purchased AirTran, which means they (and their customers) will be able to fly into more airports. And…they’ll be able to fly to Mexico and the Caribbean in the future! Ole!

Comments

It was exciting to hear from our newest unplanned SWA celebrity! Thanks for your note and sorry I missed you when I called. Your blog comments are wonderful, and we are very grateful for your support! We’re proud to have you as a “guest star” in our commercial and as one of our “unofficial cheerleaders”, spreading the good word about Southwest Airlines!! :-)